A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Madame Curie then led Li Yu to visit the newly completed Radium Research Institute.

In the following decades, the Radium Institute has been the top research institute in France and even Europe.

However, the sudden outbreak of World War I prevented Marie Curie from continuing to engage in scientific research. She was forced to take a gram of radium to the border between France and Spain to take refuge, and then served as a waiter for a field medical team.

During this period, she also used X-ray technology to help the medical team find bullets in the bodies of the wounded. Many nurses did not even know that this plainly dressed woman was Marie Curie, and often sent her to do this and that.

As for the Radium Institute, many years later her daughter Joliot Curie made many world-renowned achievements here and won the Nobel Prize.

After leaving the Radium Institute, Li Yu came to the University of Paris to give a routine speech, and then chatted with Professor Langevin for a few words.

"Mr. Academician's papers shock everyone every time they are published," Langevin said with admiration. "Almost all the recent major discoveries in the field of astronomy were made by you, and Kepler was no more like this during his lifetime."

"Sir, you are exaggerating," Li Yu said with a smile, and then asked, "Professor Langevin has also been studying radioactivity recently?"

"I'm actually studying acoustics, ultrasonics to be precise," Langevin said.

Li Yu's mind flashed and he asked: "Military project?"

Langevin nodded and said: "It should be used in the military, such as detecting submarines."

Li Yu had already outlined the principles of sonar in his mind, and then said: "If it can detect submarines, it can naturally be extended to the civilian field."

Langevin also smiled and said: "Maybe it can be used for treasure hunting in the future."

European countries have quietly begun preparations for war. It was precisely because they felt that they were well prepared that politicians could not wait to launch a war.

However, Langevin's sonar project was not actually developed during World War I, and it did not really come into use until World War II.

Moreover, the French navy during World War I was indeed not enough to see. The presence or absence of sonar had little impact. The German High Seas Fleet did not even take a direct look at the French navy.

Li Yu asked another more concerned question: "Does Professor Langevin have any connection with the Pasteur Institute? I would like to visit."

Although Pasteur has passed away, the Institut Pasteur he founded has always been quite strong in the field of microbiology.

"With your prestige, it won't be a problem to visit anywhere you want," Langevin said.

The Pasteur Institute is unique in the field of vaccines, and Li Yu wants to establish some contact with them so that vaccines can be introduced in advance in the future.

As a modern person, the main reason why Li Yu's health is particularly good is that he has received many vaccines since he was a child, so he is not prone to getting sick. So he understands the importance of this thing very well.

Li Yu's arrival quickly attracted the attention of the Pasteur Institute. He did not need to introduce himself too much and welcomed him warmly.

Li Yu browsed around the Pasteur Institute, but unfortunately he didn't know much about microbiology and pathology, so he couldn't see much, so he had to take the initiative to ask: "I heard that your institute is researching a tuberculosis vaccine?"

A middle-aged scholar said: "How does Mr. Academician know?"

"Who is your Excellency?" Li Yu asked.

"I, Kalmet, am a researcher," Kalmet replied, then pointed to a younger researcher and said, "His name is Jie Lang, and the two of us are responsible for researching tuberculosis vaccines."

Later generations of "Bacillus Calmette-Guérin" were named after these two people.

Li Yu shook hands with them and said, "Nice to meet you! What you are doing is very important. How far has it progressed now?"

Calmet said: "Our attenuation experiment has been very successful. After two years and more than 30 generations, the virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been greatly weakened. Even if 1 mg is injected, it will not kill the guinea pig. In the past, it was only It takes 0.01 milligrams to cause guinea pigs to develop tuberculosis and die within two weeks."

Li Yu said: "The effect is already so obvious?"

Calmet said: "If it weren't for the slow reproduction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, I'm afraid a vaccine would have been made by now."

Jie Lang was also helpless about this: "We rarely see bacteria that are so unwilling to reproduce. Ordinary bacteria can reproduce for one generation in up to 20 to minutes, but Mycobacterium tuberculosis can take up to hours!"

What the two people were talking about was the difficulty in developing a tuberculosis vaccine. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is "lazy" and difficult to deal with.

They cultured the original strain in a special medium containing potatoes, ox bile and 5% glycerol, and transplanted it every three weeks.

During this period, animal experiments must be continuously conducted to test the extent to which the toxicity of the strains has been weakened. There must be no sloppiness or interruption at all.

A total of more than 230 attenuated passages were carried out, and it took more than ten years for the two of them to obtain a vaccine that was greatly weakened in toxicity, could produce an immune response, and could be used in humans.

However, during the first few years of World War I, the area where the Pasteur Institute was located was occupied by the German army. The German army requisitioned all livestock, including the animals used in Calmet's experiments.

As a last resort, Calmet could only continue the experiment using pigeons. Pigeons are relatively sensitive, so the Germans thought he was a spy and were almost arrested and executed.

Li Yu said casually: "If you two encounter any difficulties in the future, I can help. I have established a biological laboratory in Shanghai, China, and it would be good for you two to visit in the past."

At this time, Calmet would never have imagined that France would be beaten into such a horrible state later. He did not take Li Yu's words to heart and just replied politely: "Thank you, academician."

Li Yu specially left his contact information for him, and then said: "As long as the telegram is sent, I will never stand idly by."

Calmet was still a little confused, but after all, the other party was a world-renowned scholar, so he carefully collected the note written by Li Yu.

The BCG vaccine was officially launched in 1924. It was introduced into our country quite late, probably in 1933, and full promotion would have to wait until after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Future generations of babies will receive two shots of vaccines immediately after birth: BCG vaccine and hepatitis B vaccine.

It goes without saying that BCG is the “first shot at birth”.

Although half a century later, tuberculosis can be treated and cured, but the course of treatment is quite long and requires a combination of medications, which can take several months or even half a year.

Before the advent of streptomycin, tuberculosis was still a terminal disease, and the best solution was prevention.

-

After leaving the institute, Li Yu went to Hachette Publishing House to settle the royalties for this period.

Sure enough, it is similar to that in the United States, which adds up to almost one million US dollars. However, in the next few years, the royalties in Europe will drop off a cliff.

However, little Louis, the head of Hachette Publishing House, could not predict the future, and he also kindly asked Li Yu for manuscripts.

Li Yu revealed his idea of ​​writing another science fiction thriller.

Little Louis was very interested: "Science fiction thriller? This is a subject I have never thought of. It must be very interesting."

Li Yu asked casually: "Are thrillers popular in Europe?"

"Of course it's popular!" said little Louis. "Don't worry, your Excellency, Europeans' taste for art is infinitely better than that of the United States on the other side of the ocean. As long as your works are excellent, you won't have to worry about selling them in Europe. Edgar Allan Poe His works contain many horror elements and have been selling well over the years."

Edgar Allan Poe passed away as early as 1849, but his works can still have good sales, which not only shows that his works are of good quality, but also shows that there is a huge gap in the horror genre.

Li Yu finally felt relieved: "In the future, I will continue to entrust your company with the distribution of the European part." Then Li Yu added intentionally or unintentionally: "A week ago, Collins Publishing House in the UK also contacted me, hoping to obtain distribution. right……"

Little Louis immediately said: "How can the British be our opponents in this regard! They don't understand what art is at all! I will continue to execute the contract according to the highest royalties."

The last sentence was what Li Yu wanted to hear, so he took advantage of the situation and said, "I also think our cooperation has always been very pleasant."

Little Louis continued: "Speaking of art, a big event happened in the Louvre recently. I bought some VIP tickets. Sir, do you want to go and visit?"

Li Yu asked curiously: "What's the big deal?"

Little Louis said: "The masterpiece Mona Lisa, which was stolen for two years, has been recovered and has just been transported back to the Louvre. It is reported on the front page of the newspaper every day."

Li Yu laughed and said: "Can you steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre? What kind of legendary thief must you be?"

Little Louis said: "What kind of legendary thief is he? He is just a painter from the Louvre."

"So it turned out that he was just guarding and stealing? It's hard to guard against domestic thieves." Li Yu said.

Little Louis said: "And this thief is an Italian. He keeps saying that he wants to regain the lost national treasure for Italy. What a joke. The "Mona Lisa" was bought by the King of France and has been in the Louvre for four hundred years. What does Italy have to do with it?”

Li Yu said leisurely: "But some things cannot be bought."

Little Louis looked a little ugly, and quickly changed the subject: "Let's go quickly, there will be more people if it's later."

In fact, before the theft, the "Mona Lisa" did not have such a high status. It was just displayed in a row with a number of paintings, and it was not treated as highly as later generations.

But after all, it is a masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci, so there is no doubt about its value.

The process of the theft was also quite funny.

There have always been many famous paintings in Paris. A second-rate art dealer named Eduardo suddenly came up with a "cool trick" to make money: find someone to copy the paintings, then get a civet cat to replace the prince, and sell the fake paintings as real paintings.

Nowadays, the United States has just emerged and there are many rich people. In the eyes of Europeans, they are a group of uneducated nouveau riche and "bumpkins". They flock to Paris to buy paintings without worrying about buyers.

Eduardo can always get some famous paintings and build a reputation. Some buyers even directly specify that they want a certain painting, no matter what means are used to obtain it.

As time goes by, Eduardo can make fewer and fewer paintings, because many famous paintings are hidden in museums, and everyone knows that it is difficult to fake them.

So Eduardo planned to get rid of the golden basin with a big vote, and the target was the "Mona Lisa".

The specific operation was as follows: He first asked someone to copy the painting that he wanted to steal, but he had to draw a very secret mark; then he took the copied fake painting to the exhibition hall to bribe the doorman, and asked the doorman to find a reason to temporarily block the visitors. Outside; go in and replace the real painting with the fake painting.

Then the next day, he took the rich man into the exhibition hall and let him see the deliberately painted signs. After the rich man left, Eduardo repeated his old trick and replaced the real painting.

In order to ensure authenticity, Eduardo will also pay a tabloid reporter to write a fake news about the missing famous painting.

In this way, even if the exhibition hall sees the news, it will not have any reaction after checking the real painting, and will only regard it as fake news; and after the rich man sees the news, he is convinced that what he bought is an authentic painting.

It’s really wonderful!

Eduardo specifically found the painter in the Louvre in Perugia and stole the famous painting "Mona Lisa" through him.

The key is that the staff didn’t notice it the next day!

This shows that the Mona Lisa was not very famous at this time.

Another day later, a painter who wanted to copy found that there were only four nails left where the Mona Lisa should have been hung. After informing the hospital, they learned that the Mona Lisa had been stolen.

The Perugia thief did not return the painting, but kept it secretly for more than two years.

After the Louvre called the police, the thief was never found. With the help of newspapers, the Mona Lisa became famous.

The painting thief from Perugia came to Italy two years later, hoping to sell the original "Mona Lisa" to a local museum. The museum thought it was a joke at first, but was shocked when it saw it: This damn thing turned out to be an authentic work!

After that, the Italian side returned the painting to the Louvre.

To be honest, Li Yu didn't know much about art, especially Western painting, and a visit to the Louvre could only be used to re-cultivate his few aesthetic skills.

After the visit, little Louis asked Li Yu enthusiastically: "Sir, do you have any ideas about buying paintings?"

Li Yu asked: "Auction?"

"Yes," replied little Louis.

Li Yu asked again: "Which master's work is it?"

Little Louis said: "Today there is a young and talented famous painter named Pablo Picasso."

"Oh!?" Li Yu was indeed interested, "Let's go and take a look."

Among famous painters, Picasso should be regarded as the one who became famous very early. He was famous throughout the European painting circles before he was thirty years old.

There were many paintings auctioned that day, and the painting Picasso put out was called "Acrobat and Young Harlequin", which was not Picasso's famous Cubist painting.

This painting belongs to the "conventional" Post-Impressionism style that ordinary people can understand. It was painted by Picasso when he was 23 years old.

Although it is not as famous as famous paintings such as "Grenica", it is still by Picasso. In 1988, it was sold at Christie's auction house in London for more than 3800 million U.S. dollars and was purchased by the Japanese retail giant Mitsukoshi Department Store.

The auction was held in a hotel, and bidding had just begun, with a starting price of 1000 francs.

The price increased very quickly, reaching 1 francs in just five minutes.

Li Yu only raised his hand at this time and added 500 francs.

A German collector, seemingly destined to win, raised his hand again.

Only he and Li Yu were left competing.

Li Yu raised his hand twice more, and the hammer fell on the purchase price of 12500 francs, which was almost equivalent to 2500 US dollars.

This price is basically the highest for contemporary painters. You must know that Picasso was only 32 years old at this time.

Little Louis was quite surprised, "For a painting with a starting price of only 1000 francs, you dared to bid all the way up to 12500 francs! Do you have unique insights into the painting or the author?"

Li Yu could only pretend that he didn't understand (he really didn't understand) and said, "I just like it, buy it back and keep it as a collection."

Little Louis said: "Maybe Pablo Picasso himself couldn't believe that such a sky-high price would be achieved."

12500 francs is equivalent to more than two years of Einstein's salary, which is definitely not a small amount.